South Carolina shatters voter turnout records

South Carolina voters showed up to the Republican primary Saturday night in record numbers, according to the state's election commission.

Election officials said the number of Republicans who submitted absentee ballots more than doubled the number received during the presidential primary in 2008, and overall it was reported that more than 730,000 voters participated in the first-in-the-South primary this election cycle.

Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer noted that South Carolina is the third earliest voting state to beat any previous records on voter turnout. Both Iowa and New Hampshire attracted a greater number of voters this year than in previous presidential elections.

Meanwhile, voter turnout in Saturday's Democratic caucuses in Nevada declined nearly 33 percent in comparison to what it was in 2008. As previously reported, only about 80,000 Silver Staters showed up to participate in the caucuses, which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won by approximately 4 percentage points. According to the Nevada Democratic Party, voter turnout in 2008, when Clinton beat then-Sen. Barack Obama, was around 118,000.